Love Only Brings Pain
by Kori Bischoff
Summary: **Finished** Hermione cheats on Harry with Ron. What will happen when Harry finds out? Please review! I live for reviews.
1. Fights

Chapter 1- Fights  
  
  
"What is it that you wanted to tell me Hermione?" Ginny asked her best friend. Hermione had dragged Ginny to her dorm because she had something that she needed to tell her. Ginny wondered what Hermione would tell her.   
  
"I'm cheating on Harry with Ron. I feel really horrible about it; I just had to tell someone. I like Harry, I really do, it's just that I love Ron," Hermione confessed. Hermione had been dating Harry for five months.   
  
"You're what?!?! You have to tell Harry!" Ginny screamed, very surprised by the news.  
  
"I can't, and you know it. It would ruin our friendship." Hermione explained.   
  
"I can't believe you Hermione Granger. You kept this from him, and you plan to continue. He's going to find out eventually. It's still going to ruin your friendship then."  
  
"You don't understand, Gin, not telling him is for the best, it really is."  
  
"And what do you plan to do when he finds out?"  
  
"I'll deal with it when it comes up."  
  
"Well plan to deal with it soon," Ginny said, backing out of Hermione's room.  
  
"Promise me that you won't tell him."  
  
"I refuse to do that."  
  
"Ginny," Hermione pleaded as Ginny walked away. Ginny ran down the stairs, away from the girl's dorms. She continued running into the common room, and ran straight into her brother. She just glared at him for a minute, before exploding.   
  
"I can't believe you! You are a horrible person!" she said. Then continuing in a whisper she said, "He's your best friend, how could you do that to him? After all the time's he's been there for you. After all the times he's saved you. You disgust me." Then she continued to run. 'I guess Hermione told her. How could she have told Ginny?' Ron thought. He felt a pang of guilt in his heart. He really didn't mean to betray his best friend, it had just happened.   
  
Ron walked up to Hermione's dorm and knocked on the door. He heard her crying. "Come in," she called to him. When Ron entered her room, Hermione looked shocked. She wasn't expecting him.   
  
"Hermione, I know you're upset, but I can tell the Ginny is really mad about all of this. How could you have told her though? I thought you knew to keep it a secret. Ginny hates when people get mistreated, so of course she's going to tell Harry to 'make it all better.' You shouldn't have said anything to anyone. That was the agreement." Hermione just cried some more. Ron knew he should feel bad for her, but he knew Harry was going to find out about them and be mad. He didn't want to lose his best friend. 'You should have thought about that before you started anything with Hermione,' his conscience said. 'Shut up,' Ron said to his conscience and left Hermione's dorm.   
  
'I've ruined everything,' thought Hermione, still crying. 'My best friend and Ron are mad at me, and Harry is going to me furious when he finds out.' Hermione started crying harder. 


	2. Secrets Revealed

Chapter 2- Secrets Revealed   
  
  
Ginny continued running once she was out of the Gryffindor common room. She ran towards the library, knowing that she would find Harry there. He had grown to like the quietness and lack of people in the library. Ginny burst into the library and ran to the back. Sure enough, she found Harry at a small table, writing something.   
  
"Harry," Ginny said, out of breath. Harry looked up with a worried look on his face.   
  
"What's wrong Ginny, is someone hurt?" Harry asked franticly, worried about Ginny's tired state.   
  
"No, no one is hurt," Ginny said.  
  
"Okay, good."  
  
"But you are going to be, emotionally that is, when I tell you what I just found out," Ginny continued.   
  
"What did you just find out?" Harry asked, wondering what was so important that Ginny had to run to find him.  
  
"Well...this isn't my news to tell. But I thought that you had to know as soon as possible. Of course, other's didn't share my feelings about you knowing," Ginny rambled.   
  
"Ginny, can you get right to the point?" Harry asked bluntly.   
  
"I'm sorry that I have to be the one to tell you, but Hermione is cheating on you with Ron."  
  
"I know," said Harry, surprising both himself and Ginny.  
  
"You do? How?"   
  
"Well, you can just tell that something is going on between them. I guess I just tried to ignore it," Harry said sadly.   
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
"Yes, well, as okay as I'll ever be."  
  
"I figured that you would be madder, ready to kill Ron," Ginny said, surprised that Harry wasn't fuming with anger. Hermione and Ron chose that moment to walk past the entrance to the library...holding hands. Harry saw them, but showed no emotion on his face. He had learned to hide his emotions very well over his years at Hogwarts. He in fact was mad, but not at Hermione, nor Ron. He was mad at himself for ever believing that Hermione cared for him.   
  
"How can I be mad at him for loving the same girl that I love? He can see everything that I see in her. It just happens to be that she cares just as much back. And I even understand why they would hide it from me instead of her just getting rid of me. The only thing I don't understand is what I did to deserve this."  
  
"Harry, you did nothing to deserve this. No one deserves this," Ginny said.  
  
"It must be the world's way of telling me that I'm not meant to be happy. I have no parents, now no girlfriend; even my best friend is against me. I should have known it was too good to be true." Ginny's heart broke when she heard Harry say this. A tear rolled down Harry's cheek. "Thanks for telling me Ginny. I have to go. Now. Bye." Harry got up from where he was sitting and left the library. Ginny didn't follow him; she knew there was nothing she could do.  
  
Then she noticed the parchment Harry had left behind. She didn't want to be nosey, but she was very curious about what it said, so she read it anyway.   
  
Dear Hermione,  
I just wanted to let you know how much you mean to me. You are my love, my life. You keep me safe, you keep me sane. After everything that has happened to me, you are the one who can make it all better. Only you can make me smile when I'm not sure it's possible to be happy. I love you more than life itself, and I don't know what I'd do without you. Thanks for always being honest with me and-  
  
The letter ended abruptly, because of Ginny's arrival. If her heart hadn't broken already, it surely did as she read the letter. Ginny hated Hermione at the moment, for causing so much pain to Harry. 


	3. Family Understanding

Chapter 3- Family Understanding   
  
The next morning Ginny was woken up by her brother. She was shocked that he was in her dorm; a girl's dorm. Then she realized that he wasn't very happy. In fact, he was downright mad. She could guess why he was mad even before he said anything.  
  
"Ginny! You told Harry about Hermione and I. I'm your brother, how could you have chosen to tell him instead of keep my secret? After all of the years we've grown up together, how could you have chosen his side over mine?" Ron sounded a little hurt, along with his madness.  
  
"Ron, you know I would have stuck by you if you had done something that I believed was right. If you truly believed that what you were doing the right thing then I would have stood by you. But I know you better than anyone, and I know that in your heart that what you did was wrong. And not telling Harry was even worse. So I had to take things into my own hands."  
  
"I guess you're right, but Harry's avoiding me now, he won't look at me, or talk to me. I want to apologize, but he won't let me get near him," Ron said.   
  
"Can you really blame him? What you did was unforgivable," Ginny reasoned.   
  
"I guess you're right, but I just wish there was something I could do."  
  
"You have to give him time, he's not going to heal overnight."  
  
"You always were the one who knew people, weren't you Ginny?" Ron asked.  
  
"Yeah, I think so."  
  
After hugging Ginny, Ron left. As disgusted as she was with her brother, the fact still remained that he was her brother, and she felt bad for him, no matter how wrong a thing he had done. For a long time Ginny sat on her bed thinking about everything. Finally she realized that she was late for breakfast and got dressed and ran down in time to grab some toast. Ginny didn't see Harry, Ron or Hermione and wondered were they all were. If she were to guess, Hermione and Ron were off somewhere together, and Harry was in the library, but she didn't have time to find any of them, because she had to get to her first class.   
  
Harry wandered out of the library in time to make it to his first class: Potions, which meant seeing both Hermione and Ron. And Ron happened to be his partner. The last thing he wanted to do was talk to Ron. Harry would have rather be partnered up with Malfoy, but he knew that he wasn't that lucky. He arrived to class and took a seat moments before class started.   
  
"Hi," Ron said, but Harry didn't reply. "Look, I realize that you are mad at me, and you have a right to be-"  
  
"You got that right," Harry said, cutting Ron off. "I don't want to talk to you. Hermione is the only one I need to talk to. Once I have a word with her, she's all yours. You two deserve each other." Harry walked up to Snape's desk and requested a new partner. Snape, happy with the fact that Harry and Ron weren't getting along, agreed. Ron made no attempts to talk to Harry the rest of class, though he did whisper to Hermione a lot. 


	4. The Search

Chapter 4- The Search  
  
  
"I don't want to talk to him, Ron, I can't. I can't face him, not yet."  
  
"I understand."  
  
"He's going to try to talk to me, I know it. He even told you that he needed to talk to me."  
  
"We could hide from him. Wait here and I'll be back in fifteen minutes. I'll get everything we need."  
  
Ron left Hermione's dorm and quickly walked to his own. Soon he found what he was looking for, and went back to Hermione. He showed her what he had brought back with him and she gasped. Was this the right thing to do? First she cheated on Harry with his best friend, now they were hiding from him, and stealing. Things were getting worse and worse. But she trusted Ron, so she followed him to their hiding place.   
  
* * *  
  
"Harry, I haven't seen Hermione all day. Come to think of it, Ron's missing too. I wonder where they are," Ginny said. They were in the Gryffindor common room.   
  
"They're hiding from me," Harry replied.  
  
"How do you know?"   
  
"My invisibility cloak is gone. So is the Marauder's Map," Harry said grimly.   
  
"They will be impossible to find! They are invisible and know where we are at all times."  
  
"I know, but we have no other choice, we have to go look for them. I need to talk to Hermione. You know most of Hermione's favorite places in the castle, go search those places. I'll go to Ron's."  
  
"Okay," Ginny said, complying to his orders. She was gone in seconds, because she knew how much it meant to Harry to find Hermione.   
  
Harry stayed in the common room. He knew where they were, but did he really want to find them? Finding Hermione meant having to talk to her, having to face the facts. Harry knew that he would have to talk to her sooner or later, why not sooner? He walked out of the common room and found his way to his destination, somewhere he had been many times.   
  
Harry stopped outside Myrtle's bathroom. It was still 'Out of Order.' His hand was on the door, ready to push it open, and find his so-called friends. Sucking up his courage, he opened the door. Of course, he saw no one, but he could sense their presence.   
  
"Hermione, Ron, I know you two are in here. I can't see you, but you are here, and it would be so much easier if you just revealed yourselves." Harry saw nothing for a second, but then he was faced with Ron and Hermione. Ron looked sheepish. Hermione wouldn't look up at him.  
  
"How'd you know we were here?" Ron asked, breaking the silence.   
  
"Where else would you go? You easily forget how well I know both of you. If you please, I would like my cloak and map back. I would also like to have a word with Hermione, if it's not too much to ask," Harry said harshly. Hermione winced. Ron handed Harry back his belongings.   
  
"Hermione?" Ron asked.  
  
"It's okay, he deserves to be able to talk to me. I'll see you later," Hermione said, and with that, Ron left.   
  
"Finally," Harry said. 


	5. Harry and Hermione Talk

Chapter 5- Harry and Hermione Talk  
  
  
"So..." Hermione said, staring at the floor.  
  
"I just want to know one thing, why'd you do it?" Harry asked.  
  
"Well, you might not understand this, but I love Ron. I don't know why I love him and not you, but that's just the way my heart works," Hermione explained.   
  
"I've always loved you. I knew you never loved me back, but I always hoped that you could learn to. I should have realized you can't make someone love you, no matter how hard you try to be everything they want."  
  
"Oh Harry, I didn't mean to hurt you," Hermione said, coming closer to hug him. She was just now realizing what a horrible thing she had done.   
  
"Don't touch me. I don't want your pity, I just want to know why you did what you did."  
  
"I didn't want o hurt you, I thought if I dumped you for Ron, it would ruin your friendship with him, as well as ours."  
  
"But you didn't think if I found out about you cheating on me with him that would ruin our friendship?"  
  
"Well, I didn't think that you-"  
  
"You didn't think I would find out? How could I not? Just looking at you two made it obvious. I just didn't want to see it. I didn't let myself see it until Ginny told me. I don't even know why I'm here talking to you."  
  
"Harry-"  
  
Harry stepped back, farther away from Hermione. "No. I don't want to hear whatever it is that you want to say. I guess I only came to hear from you that it's true. That you betrayed me with my best friend. I've heard what I wanted to hear, and now I want to be as far away from you as possible." Harry turned and ran. He didn't stop running until he saw the Fat Lady. He mumbled the password and ran to his dorm.   
  
Hermione followed Harry to his dorm.   
  
"Harry," Hermione said. Harry looked up in disgust. "Just listen to me. I want everything to be okay with us. Please talk to me. You can't avoid this."  
  
"You have no right to be talking to me, after everything you've done. Why can't you just stay away from me?"  
  
"Maybe if you listened you me-"  
  
Harry cut her off. "Get out. GET OUT NOW!" Hermione ran out of the boy's dorms with tears streaming down her cheeks. Ron, who was walking up the stairs, saw her fly past him, not noticing that it was him. Ron ran after her, and grabbed her shoulders.   
  
"What's the matter?" he asked. They sat down on the couch in the common room and Hermione told Ron about her talk with Harry. 


	6. Never Again

Chapter 6- Never Again  
  
  
"Maybe if I talked to him, I'll get him to understand that things have to go back to normal."  
  
"Oh Ron, will you? I need things to be better. I don't know how I would be able to cope if he wasn't friends with me."  
  
"You'd still have me Hermione," Ron reasoned.   
  
"It wouldn't be the same. I need him. You're great, but I can't live without Harry."  
  
Ron just sat there, not saying anything. 'Is she starting to regret cheating on Harry with me? Is she starting to think I'm not worth it? Would she rather be with him?' Ron wondered. He didn't want to say the wrong thing and upset Hermione. He figured if he doubted her, she would either get upset, or admit that he was right, and he didn't like either of those options. So instead he said, "Don't worry, I'll talk to him and make everything better."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Ron walked up the stairs to the boy's dormitories. He waited outside the door to the room he shared with Harry and the three other Gryffindor boys. He walked in. Luckily, Dean, Neville, and Seamus were not in the room. Harry was. He had the curtains drawn around his bed, but Ron could hear him breathing.   
  
"Harry?" Ron called.  
  
"What do you want?" Harry asked.  
  
"I need to talk to you."  
  
"Why, so you can rub it in that you have Hermione, and you don't?"  
  
"No, Hermione is very upset, you have to be friends with her again," Ron said.   
  
"No, I won't be friends with her again. You either," Harry stated.  
  
"Harry-"  
  
Harry cut him off. "When I first found out about you and Hermione, I wasn't upset. I couldn't be mad for you loving her. I couldn't be mad at her loving you. But when I started thinking, I got mad because you both went behind my back. The two people I trusted more than anyone betrayed me. And you want me to forgive and forget? To be friends with you again? I don't think so," Harry said coldly.  
  
"Harry, it would mean so much to her," Ron pleaded.  
  
"I don't care. Don't you get that? I. Don't. Care," Harry said slowly, as if he was talking to an infant.  
  
Ron and Harry stood in silence for a minute before realizing that there was another person in the room. It was Hermione, and she was crying.   
  
"I need you to care," she said. "I need things to be the same as they were before."  
  
"They'll never again be the same. You can count on that," Harry said as he walked out the door, leaving Ron and Hermione alone.   
  
"He's right, they won't be," Hermione said. "I don't think I can be with you, after seeing what this is doing to Harry."  
  
"But I love you," Ron said, confused about why Hermione was doing this. Why she was ruining the last remains of the great trio.   
  
"I can't love you Ron, I can't. I'm sorry," Hermione said, running from the room, tears streaming down her face.   
  
Ron stood, all alone in the room. "Harry was right, things will never be the same," Ron said to no one but himself.   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
The End! Sorry that it wasn't a happy ending. Most of my other stories end happy, go check them out! Please review, I want to know what you think of this story. I might do an Epilogue, if you want. 


End file.
